Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Our Life
"But
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already
perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:7-14
These words were not written by a young enthusiast starting out
on the Christian road. They are the testimony of a mature Christian towards the
close of a rich and full life.
Thirty years had passed since Paul's conversion.
During those years, God had used him to establish many churches, mightily
attesting his ministry with signs and miracles. From the start, Paul had spent
himself unstintingly in the work of the gospel, travelling constantly and
undergoing great hardships. He had come to know the reality of victory over sin
as he grew in likeness to his Lord. And among his many joys he had had one
unique experience of being, as he put it, lifted up into the third heaven to
receive remarkable revelations of spiritual truth.
Yet at the end of all this, he states that he still has not
attained to all that God had purposed for his life. Here is one of the greatest
Christians of all time saying towards the end of his life that he still needs
to press on to the goal.
To most believers, alas, salvation begins and ends with
the new birth and its assured escape from Divine judgment.
Not so for the apostle, nor indeed for anyone else who seeks,
like him, to be a true disciple of Christ. Here in this passage, he declares
his firm belief that Christ had laid hold of him with a purpose. He, in return,
was determined to lay hold of that purpose at any cost. This is a tremendous
and solemn truth, that when the Lord lays hold of us at conversion, it is with
a purpose extending far, far beyond just the saving of our souls out of hell
fire and into heaven. If so mature a man as the apostle Paul had to say at the
end of thirty years of untiring Christian service that he had not yet attained
but had still to strive to fulfill all of God's purpose for his life, what a
vast thing that purpose must be.
Paul goes even further in this passage. To him, everything that
the world considers as precious is worthless rubbish when compared to this
supreme objective of grasping the purpose of God and fulfilling it. He
considers this a prize worth giving up everything in the world for (Phil. 3:14). When we look around us and
see believers coveting worldly possessions and clinging to material things,
giving these a greater place in their lives than the things of God, we are
forced to conclude that their Christianity is very far removed from Paul's.
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It is a mark of
spiritual infancy to think of salvation only in terms of an insurance policy to
escape the flames of Hell. When we mature
spiritually, we realize that God saved us in order that we might walk each day
in the pathway that He has already planned for each one of us from eternity (Eph. 2:10). That pathway was what Paul
called God's purpose for his life. If we are satisfied with having received His
grace, but are uncommitted to fulfilling His will for our lives, then no matter
how thoroughly evangelical we may be, we shall go through life without
accomplishing anything of lasting value to God. Of course the Devil's first aim
is, by one means or another, to blind people to the grace of God in Christ
Jesus, thus preventing them from being saved (2 Cor. 4:4). But if he does not
succeed there, then his next aim is to blind that new believer to the fact that
God has a very definite plan for him. To a large extent he has succeeded here.
There are thousands of true believers who never seek the will of God with any
degree of earnestness, even in major decisions that they make in their lives.
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The Christian life is depicted in this passage in Philippians as
one in which we have to be continually pressing on. No degree of spiritual
maturity attainable on earth will ever absolve us from this need of constant
urgency. It is because many believers have neglected this lesson that they have
no living testimony. Their only testimony relates to an experience in the
distant past when on a blessed day they perhaps raised their hand or signed a
decision-card in some evangelistic meeting. That was wonderful, but nothing has
happened since! Prov. 24:30-34, with its picture of a garden gone to waste,
describes the condition of the man who relaxes after his salvation. A garden
requires constant weeding and caring, if it is to be guarded against weeds and
nettles - and so does the human soul.
Understanding God's purpose and pressing on to attain it is not
an optional extra for the spiritual elite. It should characterize the life of
every true child of God.
Zac Poonen
Prayer Points
1. Lord, anoint my eyes, hand and legs to locate my divine purpose
in the name of Jesus.
2. My purpose shall not die! In the name of Jesus.
3. Every power assigned to redirect my feet to the wilderness where
there is no water, you are a liar! DIE! In the name of Jesus.
4. My Father, enroll me in the school of divine guidance, teach me
the secrets of profiting, in the name of Jesus.
5. (Touch your legs prophetically as you pray this next prayer
point) My legs hear the word of the Lord; Carry me to my place of blessings
beginning from this month and throughout this year, in the name of Jesus.
6. Every invisible ink that has marked me out for failure and
stagnation this year: I WIPE YOU OFF BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS! In the name of
Jesus.
7. Every arrow assigned to overwhelm and distract me from
fulfilling God’s purpose for my life this year, BACK FIRE!!! In the name of
Jesus.
8. Satanic exchange of my blessings BE REVERSED BY FIRE! In the
name of Jesus.
9. My delayed blessings arise by fire! BREAK OUT of every imprisonment
and LOCATE ME NOW! In the name of Jesus.
10.
Every power assigned to steal or
divert my miracles, you are a liar! DIE! In the name of Jesus.
11.
Miracle hijackers assigned
against my life, what are you waiting for? DIE! In the name of Jesus.
12.
I shall be fruitful this year, by
the power in the blood of Jesus.
Seven Fold Amen with Faith!!!
Amen! Amen!
Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!
2015 is your Year of multiple restoration and
unparalleled Favor in the name of Jesus
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IF THE ENEMY HAS STOLEN FROM YOU;
RECOVERY IS BY FORCE.
STOP THEM BEFORE THEY STOP YOU,
GOD BLESS YOU.
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